I Own You
by Raziel the Selkie
Summary: In his lifetime as a jailor, Thresh could break even the most resolute of his prisoners, causing their minds to snap and sending them into a manic delirium before they met their end.


After laning with Varus in several matches recently, Thresh found a new object of obsession to toy around with. There were other Champions that Thresh accompanied in the bottom lane of Summoner's Rift, and he examined them all with single-minded fixation. Sometimes he would remain in the background and watch people do their own thing, observe their mannerisms and gestures and expressions and all the little nuances of a person's being. Once Thresh studied his quarry long enough, he would then come and do his dark bidding.

Fortunately, Thresh had an opportunity to observe Varus up close. The archer had a taciturn air about him and didn't speak much. Usually, Varus didn't make any sign of acknowledgement towards Thresh. The most Varus would communicate to Thresh would be a grunt acknowledging Thresh's plays or monosyllabic commands such as "Ward", "Back," and "Stop." Though Thresh didn't mind. He will eventually get Varus to open up, dissect him and probe him with questions and see how the archer ticked.

So once Varus and Thresh became comfortable with one another's laning styles, Thresh decided to try an experiment. He would accompany Varus in lane as always. Thresh would fulfill his role, as usual, except here and there, Thresh would take a minion kill from Varus, one or two out of every wave. He would throw his lantern out at the last possible moment when Varus was in a critical condition, though Varus managed to grab onto the lantern in time and fly safely to Thresh away from enemy hands. Thresh would also laugh at very inappropriate moments, like when Varus would miss his arrows or skillshots, or when Varus was at low health and had to recall back to base, or when Varus would get caught over-extended from his lane and Thresh would throw out his lantern mockingly to save him.

Yet Varus wouldn't make any mention of this. He simply continued on as always. Fine then, Thresh could go even further. In his lifetime as a jailor, Thresh could break even the most resolute of his prisoners, causing their minds to snap and sending them into a manic delirium before they met their end. So Thresh started taking three to four minions out of every wave when Varus tried to collect their bounties. Sometimes Thresh would throw out his lantern for Varus to grab, sometimes he did not. This made Varus meet a few unfortunate ends at the enemy hands while running away. Then Thresh continued laughing at every opportunity he could get, to rile the archer up, to get underneath his skin.

Varus still didn't say anything, so Thresh had to take even more drastic measures. One day, they went into lane as always. Varus wandered out to shoot an arrow towards a minion, and Thresh froze and didn't move from the outer turret. He simply watched, remaining still as a statue. Varus didn't say anything, though Thresh noticed a slight furrow of his brow and a subtle twitch of his lip that started to frown. His shot an arrow and it missed its mark completely. Thresh took a step away from the turret to slaughter the minion that Varus couldn't kill, before retreating back to the turret again, leaving Varus to fend for himself while he tried to farm minions.

Varus froze for a moment, simply letting the minion waves fight against one another and stood very still. Thresh waited, as the silence drifted between them.

"Thresh," Varus finally said, to which Thresh smiled.

"I believe that's the first time you addressed me by name," Thresh said, before leaning against the turret and watching the archer's back.

Varus grunted at this, before doing his own thing. Thresh then continued to do the same thing that he did before, last hitting four minions out of the very large wave that came. The archer froze again, and Thresh saw that his shoulders turned rigid.

"Why?"

Thresh pretended to play dumb and asked in an innocent voice. "Why what?"

"Why do you do that?"

Well, that was a start. It looks like they were going somewhere with this conversation. However, Thresh continued playing his infuriating game, saying, "Why do I do what?"

"Why do you take some of the minions?"

Thresh considered for a moment, pretending to think over his answer. He drew it out as long as possible, before saying, "Compensation."

Varus continued giving Thresh the silent treatment after that. He started last hitting some minions, though the enemy laners would poke and harass him while he did so. Thresh didn't even bother harassing Nidalee or tanking the spears for Varus, while Ezreal continued to farm freely. It was a one versus two situation, and Varus was steadily falling behind.

When the enemy jungler came to gank their lane, Varus was caught over-extended and three of the enemies were chasing after him.

"Thresh!"

Thresh continued to sit at tower. "Yes?"

"They're coming after me."

Thresh looked at his clawed hands. "And what do you propose that I do about that?"

"Throw your lantern."

Thresh then peered inside his lantern while disregarding the scene before him. "I didn't hear 'please'."

"Throw your lantern. Please."

Once Varus said those words, Thresh threw out his lantern and Varus narrowly escaped with his life. Varus then collided heavily into Thresh, panting with exertion from running. Thresh could feel Varus's heart beating his chest, as the archer leaned against him for support. Ezreal, Udyr, and Nidalee began to run towards the tower, to which Thresh handily carried Varus to retreat and hide in the brush.

After Varus caught his breath, he then narrowed his eyes towards Thresh. "Why are you doing this?"

"They're sieging our turret right now. I don't think now is the appropriate time to ask."

Varus struggled against Thresh, though Thresh continued to hold Varus against him.

"I need to recall."

Thresh didn't relent in his grip. "Your life is in my hands. I _own_ you."

When Varus stopped struggling against Thresh, looking up at the specter with a dawning realization on his face, Thresh laughed again. He could feel the archer bracing himself against him, expecting Nidalee's javelin to come flying through the air at any possible moment. Varus only had a sliver of health left-even a single autoattack or spell from Ezreal would be enough to finish him off.

"They'll hear us," Varus murmured.

"I don't have anything to worry about," Thresh said. "But you do."

"Thresh…"

Then there was a sound a javelin being launched blindly through the air, heading towards the direction of the brush. Thresh heard the whistle of the projectile speeding through, and Thresh deliberately held Varus in a position where the spear would chunk him. Knowing that his life was on the line, Varus then showed the first sign of any emotion and spoke in a desperate voice, "Thresh, please! I _need_ you!"

Thresh then immediately turned around, taking the full brunt of the javelin. As the javelin struck him in the back, Thresh laughed again-though this was not the mocking laughter that he did when Varus missed his arrows or when he needed to recall at low health. It seemed mirthful, somehow, if you ignored the fact that Thresh's laugh had a tint of deranged madness to it.

"We are in this together, soul mate," Thresh said as he finally let Varus go and pushed him away so that he could recall. "Go."

Varus stared at Thresh for a while, before there was a hint of a smile teasing across his lips, though Varus hadn't smiled in a long time-so it looked a little pained. Yet having the archer say that he needed Thresh and having a rare smile from him left Thresh in a mirthful humor.

"Thank you," Varus said, before he retreated to the safety of the base.

Unfortunately, Thresh was discovered by Ezreal, Nidalee, and Udyr popped into the brush where he had been hiding. But Thresh didn't care. He simply laughed when they unleashed everything on him, laughed and laughed like he did when he was a human, once, when his own prisoners hung him from his own chains. It didn't matter if they killed him-Thresh would die for Varus, if he had to.

They were soul mates, after all.


End file.
